Cummins Engine

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Cummins Engine

NARRATOR: This Indiana Bicentennial minute is made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg DeVault.

Black and white photographs and videos are played of Clessie Cummins from a young man sitting by a car, to his office and factories, and then finally driving an older car with his own engine in it.

PAULEY: He was an Indiana farm boy who never finished eighth grade but Clessie Cummins was a self-taught mechanic and in 1919 co-founded Cummins engine in Columbus, Indiana plus he was a master promoter, putting his engine in a 1929 Packard and driving from Indiana to New York City on $1.38 worth of fuel. In 1931, Indianapolis 500, the Common Special finished 13th and ran non-stop.

Black and white photos show a man with glasses and a suit on sitting behind a desk. Images and videos are shown of modern-day factories and buildings that has the Cummins logo.

PAULEY: In 1934, J. Irwin Miller became general manager and over four decades made Cummins an international giant with facilities today worldwide and nearly 20 billion dollars in annual sales and it all started with an Indiana farm boy, Clessie Cummins. I’m Jane Pauley.

NARRATOR: This Indiana Bicentennial minute is made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg